Background Current and expected problems such as ageing, increased prevalence of chronic conditions and multi‐morbidity, increased emphasis on healthy lifestyle and prevention, and substitution for care from hospitals by care provided in the community encourage countries worldwide to develop new models of primary care delivery. Owing to the fact that many tasks do not necessarily require the knowledge and skills of a doctor, interest in using nurses to expand the capacity of the primary care workforce is increasing. Substitution of nurses for doctors is one strategy used to improve access, efficiency, and quality of care. This is the first update of the Cochrane review published in 2005. Objectives Our aim was to investigate the impact of nurses working as substitutes for primary care doctors on: • patient outcomes; • processes of care; and • utilisation, including volume and cost. Search methods We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), part of the Cochrane Library ( ), as well as MEDLINE, Ovid, and the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) and EbscoHost (searched 20.01.2015). We searched for grey literature in the Grey Literature Report and OpenGrey (21.02.2017), and we searched the International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP) and ClinicalTrials.gov trial registries (21.02.2017). We did a cited reference search for relevant studies (searched 27.01 2015) and checked reference lists of all included studies. We reran slightly revised strategies, limited to publication years between 2015 and 2017, for CENTRAL, MEDLINE, and CINAHL, in March 2017, and we have added one trial to ‘Studies awaiting classification’. Selection criteria Randomised trials evaluating the outcomes of nurses working as substitutes for doctors. The review is limited to primary healthcare services that provide first contact and ongoing care for patients with all types of health problems, excluding mental health problems. Studies which evaluated nurses supplementing the work of primary care doctors were excluded. Data collection and analysis Two review authors independently carried out data extraction and assessment of risk of bias of included studies. When feasible, we combined study results and determined an overall estimate of the effect. We evaluated other outcomes by completing a structured synthesis. Main results For this review, we identified 18 randomised trials evaluating the impact of nurses working as substitutes for doctors. One study was conducted in a middle‐income country, and all other studies in high‐income countries. The nursing level was often unclear or varied between and even within studies. The studies looked at nurses involved in first contact care (including urgent care), ongoing care for physical complaints, and foll...

Dietary protein plays a role in body weight regulation, partly because of its effects on appetite. The objective was to compare the effects of high or normal casein-, soy-, or whey-protein breakfasts on appetite, specific hormones, amino acid responses and subsequent energy intake. Twenty-five healthy subjects (mean+/-SEMBMI:23.9+/-0.3 kg/m2; age:22+/-1 years) received standardized breakfasts: custards with either casein-, soy, or whey-protein with either 10/55/35 (normal) or 25/55/20 (high)En% protein/carbohydrate/fat in a randomized, single-blind design. Appetite profile (Visual Analogue Scales) and amino acid concentrations were determined for 4 h whereas plasma glucose, insulin, active Glucagon-like Peptide 1 (GLP-1), and active ghrelin concentrations were determined for 3 h; the sensitive moment for lunch was determined. Subjects returned for a second set of experiments and received the same breakfasts, ad lib lunch was offered 180 min later; energy intake (EI) was assessed. At 10En%, whey decreased hunger more than casein or soy (p <0.05), coinciding with higher leucine, lysine, tryptophan, isoleucine, and threonine responses (p<0.05). At 25En% there were no differences in appetite ratings. Whey triggered the strongest responses in concentrations of active GLP-1 (p<0.05) and insulin (p<0.05) compared with casein and/or soy. There were no differences in EI. In conclusion, differences in appetite ratings between different proteins appeared at a normal concentration; at 10En% whey-protein decreased hunger more than casein- or soy-protein. At 25En% whey-protein triggered stronger responses in hormone concentrations than casein- or soy-protein. The results suggest that a difference in appetite ratings between types of protein appears when certain amino acids are above and below particular threshold values.

Physician substitution in healthcare for the ageing population may achieve at least as good patient outcomes and process of care outcomes compared with care provided by physicians. Evidence about resource use and costs is too limited to draw conclusions.

Background The global utilization of the physician assistant/associate (PA) is growing. Their increasing presence is in response to the rising demands of demographic changes, new developments in healthcare, and physician shortages. While PAs are present on four continents, the evidence of whether their employment contributes to more efficient healthcare has not been assessed in the aggregate. We undertook a systematic review of the literature on PA cost-effectiveness as compared to physicians. Cost-effectiveness was operationalized as quality, accessibility, and the cost of care. Methods and findings Literature to June 2021 was searched across five biomedical databases and filtered for eligibility. Publications that met the inclusion criteria were categorized by date, country, design, and results by three researchers independently. All studies were screened with the Risk of Bias in Non-randomised Studies—of Interventions (ROBIN-I) tool. The literature search produced 4,855 titles, and after applying criteria, 39 studies met inclusion (34 North America, 4 Europe, 1 Africa). Ten studies had a prospective design, and 29 were retrospective. Four studies were assessed as biased in results reporting. While most studies included a small number of PAs, five studies were national in origin and assessed the employment of a few hundred PAs and their care of thousands of patients. In 34 studies, the PA was employed as a substitute for traditional physician services, and in five studies, the PA was employed in a complementary role. The quality of care delivered by a PA was comparable to a physician’s care in 15 studies, and in 18 studies, the quality of care exceeded that of a physician. In total, 29 studies showed that both labor and resource costs were lower when the PA delivered the care than when the physician delivered the care. Conclusions Most of the studies were of good methodological quality, and the results point in the same direction; PAs delivered the same or better care outcomes as physicians with the same or less cost of care. Sometimes this efficiency was due to their reduced labor cost and sometimes because they were more effective as producers of care and activity.